


Flight of the Pawn

by Melethh



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Court of Owls, Dark Dick Grayson, Earth-3, One Shot, talon dick grayson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2019-08-30
Packaged: 2020-09-30 23:03:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20455010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melethh/pseuds/Melethh
Summary: Thomas may call him his brother, but Dick knew what he had lost that night was gone forever. There was no one left tied to the Graysons and for all Owlman's genius, there was no murderer found to enact vengeance upon.At least, until William Cobb came to him with answers.





	Flight of the Pawn

**Author's Note:**

> I don't write much anymore fam. However, I've been hung up on an Earth-3 William Cobb meeting Earth-3 Talon and how the court might fit into that universe. Also...canon, what is canon?

There had been a time when flying meant everything to him. Flying meant performing for smiling faces and the assurance he would be caught by his mother. Dick remembered how it felt to practice with his sister, not working to please his mentor but genuinely loving the ache in his muscles and the thrill of flight. 

Now it was all too mundane. The manor was not a place of peace by any means when he constantly felt like he was fighting a losing battle to earn even the smallest form of vindication from Thomas. Going out into Gotham had once been his source of solace. On those nights when Thomas made him feel like a burden to his ambition, he would go to the streets and seek someone on Owlman’s hitlist, drinking in their fear at the sight of the Talon. 

Owlman and Talon had done their jobs almost too well. Dick rarely got to use his lethal weapons anymore since they had successfully brought Gotham to heel. There was not a cop, judge, or common citizen that did not understand the consequences of acting against them. Gotham had once been a city that was on the verge of tearing itself apart from the inside and now it was united in fear of Owlman. This meant Talon did not get to experience that cathartic power as the citizens of Gotham only rarely were stupid enough to defy their rule. 

Well, he still was able to fight occasionally with Owlman and the Crime Syndicate against some hapless hero. Even that thrill was beginning to dwindle as the only real threat amongst the heroes was successfully contained and the others were no real threat. Besides, Crime Syndicate missions often threw Dick between Owlman and Ultraman’s never-ending power struggle. Sometimes he was ignored, other times Ultraman might corner him and make an insinuating comment about Owlman just so Thomas could see him encroaching on Talon’s space. Dick hated Ultraman but it was interesting to see Thomas, the man who controlled almost every aspect of his life and the spaces he occupied, fight for power with someone Dick regarded as a dumb brute. 

Tonight, Owlman was with the Crime Syndicate for a meeting so Dick was not needed and according to Ultraman, unwelcome. He did not mind. A meeting over their profits and remaining struggles did not interest him. So, here he was, one of the most feared people in Gotham and he was letting his legs swing off the side of a building of no particular importance. There was not even a stakeout to be done or a shipment to oversee. 

He was about to just go back to the manor and train when he heard the thump of someone landing behind him. Rolling back into a squat, he rose with knives in hand and an excited grin on his face. They were in the shadows, walking towards him. It could have been Ultraman or one of his lackeys trying to either capture him or kill him to make a point, but the footsteps were too heavy to be Kal or anyone on his payroll. 

Dick’s assumptions were correct in that they were no one he knew. There was dark hair, predatory eyes, with blackened veins overwhelming his face. However, what caught Dick’s attention was the owl sigil pinned onto armor that looked suspiciously similar to his own all save for the colors. 

“Who are you? Why are you wearing Owlman’s symbol?” Talon asked, raising the knife in plain sight, letting the threat hang before the stranger’s eyes. 

“You are Richard John Grayson. The Talon.” He stated instead of answering his questions. Dick didn’t visibly react when the stranger said his true name. However, after letting the silence permeate the moment, he flung one of the knives at him. The man did not seem concerned with dodging the weapon as he let it lodge into his shoulder. Dick did not take the time to contemplate his lack of concern with being stabbed as he lunged forward and slammed him into the door of the roof’s entrance. “Impressive. To think at the circus you were an acrobat and not the knife thrower.” 

“I won’t ask again. Who are you? Why are you wearing Owlman’s symbol?” Dick snarled, pressing a knife against the man’s throat. 

“Dick,” The man said softly. “I’ll explain. I’m not here to fight you. I just want to help.” 

“Why do I need your help?” Dick asked. 

“Because you deserve the truth.” He said. “My name is William Cobb. I’m your great grandfather.” 

“Sure.” Dick drawled. “You’re slightly too young to be anyone’s great grandfather.” 

“So Owlman never told you about your history? Not even just your family history, but the history of Talon?” Cobb asked. “ _ Beware the Court of Owls that watches all the time, ruling Gotham from a shadow perch, behind grandite and lime _ \--” 

“If you finish that stupid nursery rhyme I  _ will _ cut your throat.” 

Cobb continued, “-- _ They watch you at your hearth, they watch you in your bed, speak not a whispered word of them or they’ll send the talon for your head. _ ” 

Dick had warned him. As soon as he finished the final line, Dick swiped his knife across Cobb’s throat and stepped back to watch the man grasp at his gaping neck while black blood poured through his fingers. Finally, Cobb went still at Dick’s feet and Talon moved to avoid staining his boots. 

Talon did not bluff, he made promises. He didn’t care what some lunatic feeding off of a myth had to say to him.

He reached up to comm Owlman and report his kill, but the corpse reached up and wrapped its fingers around Dick’s ankle. He recoiled in fear and kicked Cobb under his jaw and wrenched his ankle free, but Cobb continued to rise and Dick watched as the gash in his throat closed up. He finally yanked the knife out his shoulder since the point had been made explicitly clear. He was not impressed by regeneration anymore, but very few held the power could come back from wounds that lethal. Talon knew he had cut to the bone. 

“I’ll give you one thing, Dick. You are a man of your word.” Cobb said, rubbing his newly healed throat. “Nonetheless, you can see the cause of my youthful appearance.” 

“Talk,” Dick commanded. 

“That is what I was trying to do before you slit my throat,” Cobb said. “The last time I saw you, Dick, you were just a child. There was one point where I thought of you were destined to be my true successor, the final gray son of Gotham. We were planning an all-out assault on the city, seeking to wrangle it into submission. They let me stay out of my coffin to observe and prepare for when I would kill the self-proclaimed Owlman. You can imagine why the parliament took offense to that name and they were not pleased with the power Owlman was amassing. However, being out of cryo for so long, when I wasn’t watching Owlman, I was watching you. You were so talented, I knew you would be the best of us all. However, Owlman drew first blood and got to you before I could grant you your destiny. You became Talon, but not the Talon you were meant to be.” 

“If that is true, then where were you that night?” Dick asked. “The night my family was killed. If you were watching, then why didn’t you save them?” 

“I tried to take Owlman out before that happened. I failed to kill him and I was forced back into my coffin. When I woke up again, the Flying Graysons were dead and you were his Talon. I assure you. When I learned of the plans to kill them, I did what I thought I could to prevent it. It wasn’t enough.” 

“Then you know who did it.” Dick breathed out in realization. “You know who killed my family.” 

“He never told you, did he? Of course, he didn’t. Why would he?” Cobb sighed. “You need to ask Owlman that question. Once you have, meet me here again.” 

“Owlman doesn’t know. We never found the killer.” Dick said. “He would have told me if he knew.” 

“Would he? Owlman’s power over you is built on lies and manipulation. Once you find out the truth you’ll see all Thomas has ever done is cripple your potential.” Cobb said, rising to the ledge of the building. “You deserve better than to be his puppet.” 

With that said, Cobb fell back from the ledge. Dick stepped forward to watch him go, but he had already faded into the shadows. 

~~

Prying always led to trouble. The worst of his and Thomas’s fights had been because Dick’s curiosity had gotten the better of him. However, he did not think it could be worse than that night Thomas caught him in his study holding a photograph of Bruce Wayne. 

He never felt compared to Bruce because ultimately he was nothing like him. Bruce had been a rich kid who died before anyone could know what kind of man he would become. Nonetheless, he was there to be Thomas’s brother and for a time, he had been content in their relationship. But after that night, Dick realized that their brotherhood was built on Thomas’s power over him. Everything he had made Dick to be was an extension of his need for control. That was apparent that night Thomas threatened to kick him out if he ever touched the photo again. 

Dick never touched the photo again though. He did not continue to look into why Bruce Wayne meant more than his late parents. He continued to be perfect and fierce while serving Owlman’s ambitions. He did not have anywhere else to turn after all. All of his power and the feelings he used to cope were derived from the position granted to him as Thomas’s second. Take away Talon and he was just Dick Grayson, an angry boy with no one to enact vengeance upon. For all Thomas’s genius, he never found out who killed Dick’s family. 

Convenient. 

This could be his answer. Satisfaction for the plague of boredom and a way to heal the ache within him. Luthor’s team was the ones who preached about justice. Dick didn’t believe justice really existed. Thomas taught him that a long time ago. If that were so both Owlman and Talon would have gotten their due a long time ago for all the lives they had taken. No, there was just personal vengeance and those powerful enough to take it without consequence. Dick was powerful enough, he just needed a name. 

“Thomas,” Dick spoke over his shoulder as his mentor worked at the computer. “I want to know who killed my family.”

Thomas did stop typing. “You haven’t brought this up in years.” 

“My interest has been rekindled,” Dick said. “Tell me what you know.” 

“I put everything I had into finding a way for you to take your vengeance. I never found a tangible solution.” Thomas responded. 

“Who is William Cobb?” 

This time, the typing stopped. Thomas’s hands moved from the computer and he turned in his chair, settling his cold gaze on Dick. “How do you know that name?” 

“I met him. He came to me.” Dick explained. “Told me he was one of many Talons before you overwhelmed the Court of Owls. He said I was meant to be his successor.” 

“Then you should thank me for sparing you his fate. Being a Talon for the Court was not like what we have. The Court did not just take desperate orphans in and teach them how to fight. They broke them down and molded them into the collective identity of Talon. William Cobb was your great grandfather and he intended to hand you over to that fate.” Thomas explained, locking together his fingers with his arms resting on the arms of the chair. “I saw to it personally that he was locked into his coffin so he could never touch you.” 

“Why make me Talon then? The name seems cursed.” Dick asked. 

“I did not want a brainwashed assassin. I wanted a partner, a brother. However, the name Talon evokes fear in Gotham and it was the perfect way to merge the paranoia surrounding the court into the public’s own anxiety about me. The idea of their control was malleable and as you can see, I succeeded in making it my own. Cobb was never meant to leave his coffin again. I do not know how he escaped.” 

“Then you know where all the other Talons are?” Dick asked. “Are they just all in their coffins? Trapped?” 

“Lying in wait. They are my failsafe. Should something drastic happen in Gotham to shake my control, they will be unleashed to subdue this city. The Court had an idea for a Night of Owls and should Gotham ever slip from my fingers, they will know such a night.” Thomas rose from his chair and placed a hand on Dick’s shoulder. “But their fate was not meant for you. Now I must find Cobb and stop him from disrupting my plans for the Talons and I assure you, I’ll see to he cannot fulfill his plans for you.” 

“He knows who murdered my parents.” Dick finally said. Thomas’s shoulders tensed and the hand fell away. “He said when he learned of the plans to kill them that he intended to stop it. He said you stopped him first.” 

“Dick, I didn’t know stopping Cobb would--” 

“Thomas, please!” Dick exclaimed. Thomas, to his surprise, was stunned. “I never have begged you for anything, but you know more than you are telling me. If you care for me as much as you say you do--then you need to be honest with me. I will find out one way or another, but I want you to tell me. I want to hear it from you.” 

“You understand if I tell you this then we will cross a threshold. We may never have the same relationship we had before. All I ask is you remain rational and do not do anything you’ll regret because of this.” Thomas said. Dick nodded to his request but made no verbal promise. A thousand possibilities raced through his head and a thousand more he dared not considered were repressed. The silence hung between them as Thomas took another chair for Dick to sit across from him. “To understand my motivations, we cannot begin with the night your family died. We must begin with the night  _ my  _ family died.” 

~~~

The winds in Gotham had changed. Cobb could not place his finger on what exactly it was, but he knew he liked it. 

When he emerged from his coffin, courtesy of an owl loyal to the court’s glory days, he had found Gotham ruled under the owl sigil, but it was wrong in every way. There was no gray to be found. All his ambitions were crushed under the foot of that rich bastard Thomas Wayne Jr. Not only had he usurped the grandmaster’s throne, but he had also stolen the Talons as a means to ensure his mark would never leave the city and he had stolen Dick Grayson. 

Once Dick learned the truth then they would return the title of Talon that Cobb had intended for it. Let the Crime Syndicate have the world, but Owlman could not have Gotham. He would give it to the gray and defy that man once and for all. 

A glint of silver and black caught his eye as Cobb saw Dick silently land on the roof they have met before. Dick would have been entirely hidden to him if it weren’t for the enhanced vision granted to him by the court. 

“Come out, Dick. I know you are there.” Cobb called. As he asked, Dick emerged from the shadows and there was blood on his talons. “I see you learned the truth.” 

Dick still did not speak. If he were not wearing a mask then Cobb could imagine his eyes were distant and utterly lost. It was all in his body language from the way his shoulders slumped and fall of his bangs. None of it spoke of his prowess as Talon. Cobb could imagine Dick felt like he no longer had a purpose now that Thomas was dead. Cobb would show him true purpose. 

“He lied--about everything.” Dick forced out, clenching his fist at his side. “That night he told me he understood me. He told me he had lost his family too. A mother, a father, and a brother gunned down in an alleyway, but not by some punk with a gun like he always said. It was him. Thomas killed them just like he killed my family. He never understood what I felt.” 

“But I do,” Cobb interjected, finally bringing Dick’s gaze to meet his. “I know how it feels to be used. To be told you’re serving a higher purpose, but only to the selfish gain of a few.” 

“Thomas was all I had and I killed him,” Dick confessed. Cobb nodded, conceding to a truth he already knew. 

“Owlman is gone. He cannot use you anymore. No more lies.” Cobb placed a hand on Dick’s shoulder, smiling triumphantly as his grandson nodded. “We will bring the gray to Gotham once more. People like Thomas will have nowhere to hide.” Cobb hadn’t expected Dick to hug him. He honestly did not want to embrace him, but if that was what it took to establish the vital bond between them he’d suffer the physical contact. 

Dick was shaking. Cobb thought it was from tears until he felt the barrel of a gun against his gut. Dick wasn’t crying, he was laughing. 

The laughter soured into rage, gripping Cobb by his suit and pressing the gun tight against him. “You’re right. No more lies. No one will use me for their personal gain.” Dick hissed. “Especially not you.” 

“Go ahead and shoot.” Cobb snarled. “You’ll be the gray son, one way or another. Whether that process involves excruciating pain depends on if you pull that trigger. You know it won’t kill me.” 

“Won’t it?” Dick cocked his head. Owl-like. 

The pain ripped through him as it always did when he entered his coffin. Ice poured from the gun and consumed Cobb from his torso to his feet, freezing him just as he raised his talons to strike Dick down. The chill rushed through him like a plague, electrifying every nerve and feelings of hopelessness he had felt for years. All he had thought there was to gain was brought down by the one he thought to be the deliverer. 

“Courtesy of Mrs. Freeze,” Dick said, placing the gun back into its holster. “Thomas’s control over the Talons was transferred to me. Therefore, I have nothing more to learn from manipulative old men.” Cobb looked as if he were about to make a threat, but Dick removed the sword from his back causing him to go still. “Oh, did you think you were going back in your coffin?” 

“Dick, wait--!” 

Then, William Cobb was gone. All that talk of invulnerability snuffed out by a swing of the sword. Dick kept the head from him and saw to the destruction of the body. He would have no ghosts to haunt him. 

Once the deed was done, he went into the system Owlman created to ensure his failsafe. It would be Dick’s final gift to his departed brother. He would bring about the night he had spoken of, but it would be no night of owls. 

Gone was the age of the Owl. Long live the Talon. 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading. pls leave a kudos and especially a comment bc i crave validation


End file.
